Page 80 of Bless This Hot Mess
“Okay,” Rebekkah whispered, “Wish made and sent upon angels wings from my lips to God’s ears.” She leaned and blew; the candles sighed out in a single warm breath.
“Okay,now, everyone close your eyes!” Carrington sang. “And no talking while I work please!”
The snip, snip and clip of the scissors danced in each of their mind’s eye as they all waited with bated breath for the big reveal of Rebekkah’s magazine worthy new do. An electric clipper buzzed and hair shushed down onto the pink speckled tiles at their feet.
“Oh no,” Carrington breathed.
“What?!” Rebekkah said, freezing.
“Nothing. Nothing!” Carrington lied, their lips a thin, straight line across their worried face. “Keep your eyesclosed!”
More scissor work and clipper buzzing busied around Rebekkah’s head. She tried to think good thoughts, but the worries started to push their way through the affirmations. She held onto the chair arms tightly and finally couldn’t help herself from asking, “Are you or are younota real stylist?”
“I’m a receptionist! With great style!” Carrington said brightly.
“Okay, I really am very excited to see your work. I trust you, I just, you know, get in my head from time to time,” Rebekkah laughed self-consciously. “Obviously, it’s importantthat my hairstyle is iconic. I’m representing WWJD, after all. I’m in a position to really influence a lot of young people to possibly give up their pagan ways. Teens and tweens and cool twenty-somethings who will look up to me and think, ‘I want to be like her.’ I was thinking, it would be cool if Trinity could get a few billboards around town, or bus shelter posters, or maybe we could work with some local restaurants to have flyers tucked in with their delivery meals? Oh! Japheth works at Saddles ‘n’ Spurs, there’s an easy ask!”
Her mind drifted back to the haircut and realizing the clipping and buzzing had halted, Rebekkah whispered, “Are you almost done?”
“Uh… I don’t think I should do any more,” Carrington admitted, swallowing.
“What does that mean?” Rebekkah demanded.
“Do you like hats?” Carrington offered.
“Carrington!” Rebekkah yelped.
“Hats are going to bevery2000,” Carrington insisted. “In the new millennium,everyonewill be wearing hats.”
“Can we open our eyes now?!” Suwarna asked, voice light, hands already lifting away from her face to peek.
“Maybe just keep one shut and squint a little with the other,” Carrington advised. “If you do, she looksjustlike a mash-up of Anne Heche and Jim Carrey.”
“Cool!” Ronald said, genuinely delighted at the idea of a hairstyle mixtape.
“What?!” Rebekkah cried.
“I forgot which reference photo I was looking at!” Carrington confessed. “So, you have the high and tight and messy look over here… and on this side you kind of have a Pixie cut with those ear flaps. Well flap. Just one flap.”
“That isawesome!” Ronald said, grinning with his dimple as deep as it could possibly go.
“Really, Ronald?” Rebekkah said, narrowing the one eye she’d been told to open.
“I’veneverseen anything like it. Carrington, you’re a genius,” Ronald said, and Carrington’s pinched smile relaxed half a notch.
“I can’t trust Ronald, he’s allgooey eyesfor Carrington!” Rebekkah muttered. “Japheth, don’t lie to me. How bad is it?”
“You wereveryeager, so I wasn’t going to say anything to stop you, especially on your birthday,” Japheth said gently, “but now I wish I had!”
“What? What were you going to say?” Rebekkah asked, bracing herself tightly on the arms of the chair.
“Bangs are rarely agoodidea. Especially done at work, with office scissors.But!But, but but! You did it and I’m so proud of you! Just like Emma-Lou taking up barefoot water skiing when she was thirty, you were so brave!” Japheth said, hands fluttering in applause for his bestie.
“She… she never did that! She just considered it,” Rebekkah said, scandalized.
“Exactly. She just thought about it. And was too scared…” Japheth started.
“Too smart,” Emma-Lou corrected.
